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Monthly Archives: December 2016

I’ve lost count of the numbers of new beauty items I’ve tested and tried over the last year (mostly for work but sometimes for fun)—creams and serums, blushes and bronzers, mascaras, brow pencils and pomades, lipsticks and stains, oil-based everything and a few new brushes and tools to apply said products.

But not every item that starting popping up on shelves as far back as January is worthy of being singled out. The six gems I’ve chosen weren’t even part of my beauty routine Some nine months ago and now I can’t imagine going without them. Cue the applause.

Contouring’s death knell may have rung last summer when makeup kween Kim K threw her support behind nontouring, but the trend isn’t quite done with us yet. Instead, it’s become focused, refined and, most importantly, simplified.

It’s no secret that wide-open eyes = awake-looking eyes, and eye contouring takes the same shadow and highlighting play that can change the look and shape of your face (see above image) and brings it to your peepers, with no complicated tutorial required.

The past 12 months have been a slog, depressing on so many levels, from the political to the personal and extending to the world at large. Minus the personal bright spot that was my wedding in April, I’m as ready as anyone else to put 2016 to bed, into which I would also like to crawl with a good book as the next 19 days pass by.

But the dawn of a new year promises a clean slate, a chance at renewal, rebirth, resetting; an opportunity to take stock and review as opposed to rehashing the same bad vibes. It’s fitting then that Pantone’s colour of the year for 2017 is Greenery, a hint at the environment, at “going green” and a hopeful symbol of moving forward with a fresh perspective.

Clarity right out of the gates: this list is in no way exhaustive, in case the single digit didn’t tip you off, and will include shows that may not have premiered this year but had a great 2016 in terms of storyline, character development or just a really well-executed few episodes that made it a contender amongst this year’s crop of excellent small-screen work.